Six Weeks Companion Pieces
by FrankieFandom
Summary: A series of one shots from different points of views during Six Weeks.
1. Not Like This

**Six Weeks: Not Like This**

Severide jumped into the back of the ambulance. Dawson was opening up Caseys turnout coat and cutting through his tops to place the ECG electrodes to get a reading of his heart. She placed an oxygen mask over his mouth and nose and a pulse oximeter to his finger. Shay drove the ambulance as safely and fast as she could with the sirens blaring though the streets of Chicago. Casey was lying unconscious with blood flowing freely from his head laceration onto the white gurney below and down his bare chest.

"Casey?" Dawson tried to rouse him, calling his name and rubbing his chest, "Matt come on!" but he was unresponsive. She used the pentorch to shine a light into his eyes checking for any reaction. His pupils reacted sluggishly to the light, a sign of increasing intracranial pressure. "Shay! Tell med we're coming in hot with a TBI!" and Shay radioed in so there would be a neurosurgeon ready in the emergency room. Looking at the monitors Dawson stated, "He's hypotensive," she grabbed a bag of saline from behind when Casey started to seize and managed to pull the oxygen mask off. Both she and Severide held him down to prevent him from hurting himself further. "Come on! Damn it Matt! Come on!" Dawson yelled, putting the oxygen mask back on, "Come on! Come on Matt! Not like this!" She yelled trying to hold him down and looked into Severide's concerned eyes.

Dawson reached across the ambulance with one arm, the other still wrestling to keep Caseys seizing body still, she grabbed a syringe of diazepam and instructed Severide to keep Casey's arm as still as possible as she injected it. It didn't work and Casey continued to seize and his oxygen levels began to drop but they couldn't intubate like this.

The seizure eventually stopped and Casey's body fell limp on the gurney. Severide let out a breath he didn't realise he was holding and looked to Dawson wanting to know if Casey was ok. Dawson took out the pe torch and lifted up Casey's eyelids. His pupils were now unreactive, "Oh God…" the words slipped out her mouth ominously.

"What? What's wrong? Dawson?" Severide panicked but Dawson didn't reply. She was looking at the monitors and then all of a sudden Casey began to seize again. Severide tightened the hold on him that he had previously relaxed and Dawson went to hold his shoulders down again.

"Shay?" she called out to the front of the ambulance whilst being jerked around by Casey's frantic movements.

"We're less than a minute out!" Shay called back, glancing in the rear view mirror to see Casey being held down.

It was the longest minute Severide had ever experienced. The monitors were blaring. The blood from Caseys head laceration was spreading. The sirens were blaring. Casey was mumbling incoherently and groaning in pain, he was becoming paler and paler. He couldn't lose Matt. He couldn't lose his friend. Severide felt Caseys body go limp under his hold as the ambulance doors were swung open. He didn't want to let go as if his hold was the only thing keeping him alive. He felt Shay pull him away as they rushed Casey into the emergency room.

Severide, Dawson and Shay stood in at the entrance to the emergency room as the doctors and nurses took over taking Casey further into the hospital. They followed but a curtain was pulled around obscuring their view. A nurse came out and told they shouldn't be in here and led them one of the many waiting rooms where they sat down in shock as they were told they would be updated as soon as possible.

Soon the rest of Squad and Truck along with Boden arrived where they all sat and stood anxiously waiting for news on the lieutenant.

Eventually after what felt like hours but was in fact less than one hour one of the emergency room doctors appeared, _"_ He has an epidural haematoma and is in emergency surgery but that's all I can say. Just be patient, it might be awhile."

Dawson rushed out of the waiting room and up to where she knew the operating theatres were. She saw them prepping Casey for the surgery _._ 'This can't be happening!' she thought and then she heard movement behind her. It was the ER doctor and Severide who led her away back to the waiting room where they all sat and waited for more updates.


	2. The Emergency Room

**Six Weeks: The Emergency Room  
**  
The emergency room doors burst open.

"Matt Casey. 34 year old. Structural collapse. Conscious and walking briefly. Seized twice on route. Hypotensive, pupils fixed and dilated. He's had two milligrams of diazepam. No known allergies or previous head trauma."

"Ok get him on the bed. One, two, three," Casey's unresponsive form was moved onto the emergency room bed.

A nurse inserted an IV line connected to bag of saline to help stabilise Casey's blood pressure. The nurse then inserted another needle and drew blood for an arterial blood gas test. The neurosurgeon performed a Glasgow Coma Scale test. He stood over Casey calling his name whilst shining his pentorch into his eyes checking for their reaction. Unresponsive. And they didn't open to pain when the doctor performed a sternal rub however Casey did moan in response to the pain and move his arms towards his chest. Decorticate posturing.

"GCS of 6. Push lidocaine. Intubate him and move him over to the CT," the neurosurgeon announced.

Casey was intubated and the gurney was moved to the CT scanner.

As soon as the neurosurgeon studied the scans he called up for an operating theatre to be prepped for an emergency craniotomy. Matt Casey had an epidural haematoma.


	3. Waiting

**Six Weeks: Waiting**

The waiting room was silent. Matt Casey's firehouse family had been waiting for news for what seemed like eternity. The last they had heard was that he was having emergency surgery.

Severide looked up when he saw Dawson walk back to her seat after making a few phone calls. "Did you get hold of them?" he asked in regards to Casey's sister and mum.

"Spoke to Christie, not been able to get through to his mum and I don't think I should just leave her a voicemail. Christie's going to come over as soon as her husband gets home, she doesn't want Violet to know anything yet," Dawson explained as she sat down next to Severide, "I'll try his mum again later," she sighed and ran her hand through her hair.

"He'll be fine," Severide stated after seeing Dawson's concern, though he was sure he was just saying it out loud so he could believe it too. Repeating himself he spoke louder to everyone in the waiting room, "He will be fine, you all know Matt, he'll be fine," he then looked directly at his chief for reassurance and Boden nodded his head affirmatively

"Good thoughts. That's the only thing I want going round this room people," Boden announced and received nods of agreement from the anxious firefighters waiting.

Dawson spoke quietly to Severide, "… They're not listed as his next of kin."

Severide frowned, wondering what she was talking about, "What?"

"His mum and sister. The nurse was asking about family but they're not down as his next of kin. It's Hallie… he must not have changed it…" she explained quietly.

"Well they're not exactly close are they?" Severide replied with raised eyebrows.

"I guess. It's just…" Dawson began sadly.

"He has us. All of us. He's not lacking for family and friends Gabby," he explained, she smiled and nodded in agreement, "I'm going to get a drink, grab me if there's any news," he said as he stood up to leave the waiting room in search of a coffee machine. He hadn't noticed Shay get up and follow him down the corridor.

He keyed in the number for the drink he wanted and put a note in the machine before leaning tiredly on it when he heard Shay behind, "How are you holding up?"

"Me? I'm fine! I mean… God… Matt? This wasn't supposed to happen… Who knows if he's going to come out of this… I can't get it out of my head… I couldn't do anything to help him," he sighed.

Shay realised he was talking about the journey in the back of the ambulance and she put her arm around his shoulder comfortingly, "What did Boden just say? 'Good thoughts.' You're here for him. That's enough. You know Matt, he's so stubborn he has to pull through yeah?"

"Yeah, right he is," he grinned, "He'll be fine, he'll be fine," he repeated.

Shay picked up his coffee out the machine and said, "Come on, let's get back to the others, I'm sure we'll hear something soon."

And they did hear something soon. Not long after Severide and Shay re-joined everyone in the waiting room a doctor in scrubs appeared.

"All here for Matt Casey?" he asked looking at the full waiting room.

"How is he?" Boden stood up and asked tentatively.

"The surgery went well. We removed the clot with no complications. He's in the ICU now," the doctor explained.

"He's going to be ok?" Dawson asked.

"He had a severely low GCS before the surgery but that has already improved significantly. We'll know more once he wakes up," the doctor continued.

"What exactly does that mean doc?" Severide asked.

"He's suffered a very traumatic brain injury, there may be some deficits but we won't know until he wakes up but all tests at the moment indicate minimal damage," the doctor said, "We'll keep you informed of any changes."

"Can we see him?" Severide asked hopefully.

"One at time and only visiting hours but I can take one of you through now quickly," the doctor explained.

"Gabby you go," Severide said not sure if he could face the sight of his seeing his best friend in the ICU, he wouldn't know what to say and he was sure Dawson would find the right words of comfort for him if he could hear them. He decided he would just wait it out in the waiting room until visiting hours. As Dawson left the waiting room with the doctor Boden sat back down and announced that he was going to stay, there were relief crews at 51. The others decided to stay as well, all wanting to be there for their truck lieutenant.

Dawson was led inside the ICU and taken over the Matt and told she could have a couple of minutes with him. She put her hand to her mouth to hide her sharp gasp when she saw him lying on the bed cocooned by the hospital sheet and blanket; his head wrapped in a thin white bandage with the ICP contacted to one of the many monitors surround the bed. A ventilator was breathing for him. Matt was barely visible under the mass of tubes and wires, two IVS, an arterial line, catheter, ECG, and Swan-Ganz catheter. His closed eyes seemed slightly bruised and he looked so pale and vulnerable. "How… how's he doing?" she asked the nurse who was checking the monitors and making few notes in Casey's chart.

"He's doing really well, pressure is steady along with his BP and O2 stats, he'll be off the ventilator within the hour," the nurse explained and Dawson nodded in response.

Moving for her current position at the end of Matts bed to the side and took his hand comfortingly. "Matt, baby, I love you, you're ok, you're going to be ok," she squeezed his hand, mindful of the IV, and knowing she didn't have much time left added, "Matt, I have to go, we're not really allowed in here yet but I'll be back as soon as I can and all the others are waiting outside rooting for you. I love you," she explained before leaving.

"How is he?" Shay asked as she and Severide went up to Dawson as she was walking back into the waiting room. She looked like she had been crying and would burst out into tears again at any moment.

She shook her head, her lips quivering, "He… he doesn't look like Matt," Shay put her arms around her friend as she began to cry as she continued, "He's surrounded by so many monitors and hooked up to all sorts, it barely looks like him, but they said everything's looking good… but he just looks so… so small…"

"Come on, let's sit back down," Shay took Dawson to their seats where Dawson told the others that the ICU staff had only said positive things about him when she'd seen him.

Severide remained standing by the edge of the waiting area and decided to call Matts sister to give her an update, he took out Matts phone, that he'd previously asked an ER nurse to help him find in his friends turnout coat, and copied Christie's number to his phone and then called her. She picked up after two rings, "It's Severide, Matt's out of surgery, they said it went well, he's in the ICU now and they'll know more when he wakes up, but they're being very positive about it, you can see him at 9:30am if you want; I think most of us are staying here overnight." Christie thanked him for giving him an update and said she'll him in the morning and asked for any updates if there were any changes.

Severide felt a hand on his shoulder; it was Dawson, "Christie?" she asked.

"Yeah," he replied, nodding, "She's gonna wait at home and come see him when we're allowed in there," he explained looking her, she nodded in response but didn't make any eye contact with him, "Dawson?" he questioned, wondering what was wrong, other than the obvious.

"I…" she began, and kept avoided eye contact with him, "I… erm… before the call I was arguing with him about… well nothing… it seems so stupid now… I was angry at him."

Severide didn't really know what say to her, "Well I doubt he's lying there worrying about, bet he's high on meds dreaming about truck ladders and building stuff," he joked.

Not long before 9:30am Casey's sister arrived at the hospital entrance and where she was greeted by Dawson who led her up to the ICU waiting room where she waited with Boden, Severide, Shay and Dawson. The others had left and were going to return later, they had their other duties with their families and side jobs.

At 9:30am Christie went into the ICU to see her brother but it wasn't long before she came back out to the waiting room with tears in her eyes.

Severide immediately stood up and walked towards, "What's wrong? What's happened?"

"He… I don't know… He was just waking up and started trying pull everything off…" she tried to explain, "One of the nurses led me away, I don't know what's wrong."

Severide looked towards Dawson and Shay for reassurance when he said, "He's probably just confused, waking up somewhere that's not familiar, I'm sure he's all right… right Shay?" He added hopefully.

"Yeah right, he probably just panicked, it happens a lot, happens in the back of the ambo sometimes when a patient wakes up," Shay said reassuring Casey's sister whilst she tried to hide her own worry.

"I thought you said he'd woken up before?" Christie asked recalling their conversation before she went into the ICU.

"Yeah the ICU staff have been waking up… Let's sit down, I'm sure someone will be out to tell us anything soon," Dawson said and Boden led an upset Christie over to the chairs followed by Dawson and Shay whilst Severide remained standing by the edge of the waiting room.

Soon Casey's doctor appeared. "How is he?" Christie asked anxiously.

"He's ok, I had to give him a mild sedative to calm down, he pulled out an IV and his arterial line but he's fine," he reassured them as he explained. "Now I've decided to put some restraints on him in case it happens again, I don't want him to hurt himself further, it's nothing to be alarmed at just a precaution; we've reinserted the IV and re-sited the arterial line because he's not quite ready for it to be removed yet. You can go in again if you'd like to see him."

Christie went back to the ICU to see her brother and Shay and Boden went to get coffee and some food for everyone whilst Severide and Dawson remained in the waiting area together.

Severide took the seat next to Dawson and said, "How often does that happen?" and when she gave him a confused frown in response he shrugged and added, "…Well you are the medical expert out of us here!"

Dawson shook her head, "I don't know… I doubt it's a regular occurrence…But I don't know… He's says he's fine and you know Matt! How often does he wake up somewhere he doesn't know? He likes routine! It was probably just a shock waking up here..."

"Yeah I guess…" Severide replied and then remembering something he grinned, "Why? Did he wake up in a panic when he realised he was in your bed?"

"What? …Did he tell you? I thought we were keeping it quiet…" She said shocked he knew that she and Matt had started seeing each other, though she was worried they wouldn't be after their argument after she'd decided to become a firefighter without listening to his advice.

"You told Shay…" Severide said still grinning.

"And she told you! Man, she's terrible at keeping secrets!" She smiled and just then Boden and Shay returned with coffee and food.

"Have you managed to get through to his mum?" Boden asked Dawson.

"No," she shook her head, "Christie has tried too, says she'll go over to the place she's living at later if she doesn't hear back…" she frowned and added, "Don't you think it's odd?"

Severide shrugged, "You've met her haven't you?"

"Only briefly," Dawson replied and Severide raised his eyebrows, asking what she thought to her, and she just shrugged in response. She thought his mum was a little odd but she had been in prison for 15 years… for killing her ex-husband.

The rest of the day passed with no more incidents for Casey. He was kept company during the visiting hours with either Severide or Dawson chatting away to him or just sat there with him reading and waiting for him to wake up whilst the nurses kept regularly checking on him and the various monitors he was attached too.

Severide was sat reading out an article from the sports section of the newspaper when he noticed him waking up, "Casey?" no response. "Matt? Open your eyes," and very slowly his friend began to open his eyes, "Hey," Severide greeted him but he wasn't convinced Matt was aware of him but he was glad his friend wasn't panicking, he'd noticed the bruise under his wrist that spread from underneath the bandage wrapped round it where he must have pulled the arterial line from. He turned round and grabbed the attention of a nurse who paged Casey's doctor. Severide saw his friend slowly move his eyes around, taking in where he was, the movement stopped and Severide saw he'd seen the three point restraints, "They said you panicked last time you woke up," Severide explained softly, "The doc's just on his way," Severide finished smiling down at his friend who was looking at him with bleary eyes.

Very soon the doctor arrived and he began assessing Casey, "I'm Doctor Carter, I'm just going ask you a few quick things and then let you get back to resting," the doctor explained. "First I'm just going to ask you to remember these three words; house, pencil, cat. I'll ask you to repeat them to me later. Can you squeeze my hands please?" Severide saw Casey's hands slowly and lightly squeeze the doctor's hands, "Good, can you tell where you are?" the doctor asked his friend but received no response, Severide wanted to say something but just frowned with concern at the doctor and let him do his job. Casey frowned and the doctor repeated the question slowly and clearly, "Can you tell where you are?" when Casey didn't respond Severide became more worried and the doctor asked, "Can you speak?" and again his friend didn't reply though it looked like he understood the question. "What's your name?" the doctor asked his friend.

After a few moments Severide heard Casey respond, "Matt," his voice was barely more than a whisper but he was so happy to hear it.

The doctor placed his hands in Caseys, "Good, Matt, can you squeeze my hands again please?" Severide watched as his friend gently squeezed the doctor's hands, "Good, now move your toes for me," and Casey did as he was asked. "Good, now I asked you to remember three words earlier, can you repeat them to me please?" Casey looked blankly at the doctor before a flash of panic ran across his face, "Don't worry," the doctor told him softly and he reached for a cup of water, knowing his patients throat would be sore and dry from being intubated, and placed the straw to Casey's lips.

Casey took a sip of the water before asking slowly and quietly, "What happened?"

"You had an accident," the doctor answered simply.

After a few moments Casey stuttered out quietly and slowly "Am… am I ok?" He looked like he was struggling to stay away, his eyes kept fluttering closed.

"You're doing really well," the doctor reassured him and Casey fell back to sleep. It was true, Casey was doing really well and the doctor hoped to have him up and about as soon as possible for the best recovery.

The doctor left and Severide remained at Casey's bedside for a short while longer until the end of the ICU visiting hours. Arriving back at the waiting area to discover most of truck and squad waiting he announced, "He's woken up and was speaking," he smiled gently.

"How was he?" Herrmann asked and everyone waited for the answer with anticipation.

"He… he seems ok I think, the doctor says he's doing really well," Severide said.

It was the end of the day now and Boden persuaded Dawson, Shay and Severide to go and get some rest as everyone was going to take turns overnight in case Casey's condition changed. During the afternoon Dawson had a phone call from Matt's sister informing her that she'd managed to speak to their mum and she'd be coming to the hospital at some point the next day but didn't specify when.

After getting some food and rest Severide arrived back at the hospital just in time to hear the good news, when he entered the ICU waiting room the doctor was talking to Boden, Herrmann, Mills, and Dawson, who looked like she'd just got there as well as she was still wearing her coat and hat. The doctor explained that Casey was improving and wasn't going to need constant monitoring so later in the morning he would be moved to a private room on the neurology ward where he would continue to be regularly monitored but in a more welcoming environment. Casey's doctor then informed them that one of them could see him now if they wanted as he was awake and talking.

Severide and Dawson both managed to have a brief visit with Casey before he fell asleep. Herrmann, Mills, Dawson and Severide remained at the hospital and Boden left as he needed to go to the firehouse.

There was another half an hour so before one of them would be able to see Casey again and it was unlikely he would wake up anytime soon so when Dawson and Severide were stood at the coffee machine he told her, "I think I'm going to go to his and get some stuff for the room, make it less hospital like, you know how he hates staying here!" in the past it had taken a lot, mainly Hallie's persuasion to get Casey to stay overnight if he needed too and Severide thought once Casey became more aware the more he would want to leave which he was sure the doctors wouldn't allow with his head injury so he thought it was going to best to make the room seem nicer and more welcoming.

"Why is that?" Dawson blurted out, "Why does he hate staying? I mean, no one likes it but he always tries so hard to avoid even coming if he's hurt…"

"You've seen that scar on his leg?" Severide began, wondering if Dawson had noticed it.

"Yeah I noticed it…" she replied curiously.

"He was stuck in hospital for weeks when he was a kid. He doesn't go around telling everyone but it sounds like it was a really scary experience," Severide explained, "He wasn't very old and he was stuck there alone."

"Why?" Dawson asked with concern.

"The passenger side of his dad's car was hit by a truck, he was trapped in the back for quite a while, broke his femur and got pneumonia when he was in the hospital," Severide told her.

Dawson was shocked and a little sad, "… He never said anything to me."

"Yeah, like I said, he doesn't go around telling people; think he just likes to forget about it! He wouldn't have even told me if there was no alcohol involved," Severide smirked revealing how he'd discovered the reason behind the scar on his friend's right leg.

Dawson picked up the polystyrene coffee cup from the machine and sat down with the others and Severide said his goodbyes before leaving the hospital and going to his friend's house.


	4. Nancy Casey

**Six Weeks: Nancy Casey**

It was the start of the evening visiting hours and Severide found himself sat on the sofa chair in Casey's hospital room. His friend was asleep, he was pale, his hair was sticking up and out all over the place, stubble had grown and his lips were faintly chapped, there were dark shadows under his eyes and if Severide were sat on the other side of the bed he would have seen the edge of the white gauze that covered the straight incision sight and the slight bruising on the left hand side of his face. Most of the medical equipment that had be supporting and monitoring him had been removed, all that remained was and IV line providing fluids, painkillers and anticonvulsants. Matt hadn't stirred since he had entered the room and wasn't sure how likely it was that he would wake before the end of the permitted visiting hours, but if he did he wanted to be there for him.

The door slid open to reveal Nancy Casey, Doctor Carter was behind her but did not enter, "I'll leave you with him," he simply stated before sliding the door closed behind Casey's mother.

Severide stood up from the chair, "Mrs Casey," he announced a little uncertainly, he had barely met her before, "Kelly Severide," he introduced himself and held out a hand awkwardly for it to be left ignored.

"Were you with him?" she asked quietly.

"I was there, but I wasn't in the building at the time the beam fell…" he explained as she looked down at her son on the hospital bed.

"His doctor has just spoken to me but how do you think he is?" she asked him, finally taking her eyes off Matt.

"He's seems fine, he's still really groggy when he's awake but there doesn't seem to be any…" he hesitated momentarily before he spoke the next two words because it wasn't something he thought he would ever have to say, "…brain damage." He watched Casey's mum as she shook her head, "He's been lucky," he smiled, "And the baby he rescued…" he added, "has already been released from hospital."

"That's why he was still in the building?" Nancy questioned.

"Yeah, a member of his crew got the mum and he went to find her baby," Severide explained, realising no one must have told her how Casey had ended up getting injured, "Here," he indicated to the sofa chair, "Why don't you take a seat, I'll go and get us some coffee. I'm half way through reading that magazine to him, I'm sure he wouldn't mind a change in conversation," Severide said before he left the room wondering what his friends mum would talk to him about. As far as Severide was aware she hardly knew him, but he wasn't one to judge. He didn't know what their relationship was like because as Casey was _Casey_ he didn't really speak about it or share his feelings on the matter.

Severide returned with two polystyrene cups of coffee and passed one to Casey's mum before taking up residence on the stool. They didn't speak to each other or to Casey who would probably joke that he was thankful to be far from the conscious world at that moment in time to avoid the awkwardness that lingered around the room.

It didn't take long for Nancy Casey to bid her farewell and leave the room without waiting for her son to wake up. Severide sighed and moved back to the sofa chair that had just been vacated "…And I thought my parents were weird Casey," he said teasingly as he sat down and picked up the magazine, "Right where were we…"


	5. First Night Home

**Six Weeks: First Night Home**

"Hey Shay, just thought I'd let you know I'm gonna be back later than I said," Severide began speaking over the phone to Shay. He was sat on the sofa in Casey's lounge.

 _"How is he? Everything all right?"_ he heard Shay ask through the phone.

"Yeah I guess, he's in bed, managed to shower… he looked like he was just gonna fall over though. He says he's fine," he replied quietly, not wanting to wake his friend.

 _"Of course he says he's fine, and he will be eventually, don't worry too much, they wouldn't have discharged if he wasn't ok,"_ Shay explained.

"Yeah, yeah, I know," he sighed.

 _"You're both as stubborn as each other you know,"_ Shay stated.

"Yeah… Well, I'm going to stay a little longer, want me to pick up some Chinese on my way back later?" he asked.

 _"Mmm yes please. See you later,"_ she said.

"See ya," he bid his farewell and put the phone down and picked up the magazine he'd began reading whilst his friend was showering earlier. After a while he started to get cold. The heating had been on a low setting whilst Casey had been in hospital. Severide got up to find the thermostat and turn the heat up, if he was cold he imagined Casey would be, he remembered him lying on the hospital bed with two blankets on at one point. With the heat turned up he sat back down with the magazine.

Severide could have sworn he heard something. He put the magazine down and sat still waiting for the sound again. He heard it again. This time it was clearer. It was a muffled sound coming from Casey's bedroom. Severide stood up and walked quietly over to the bedroom door. Now he was stood next to the door he could hear his friend mumbling in his sleep. He opened the door slowly and peered inside to see Casey breathing heavily and tossing about slightly under the duvet. He was having a nightmare. Severide wanted to wake him but didn't want to alarm him or upset him because he'd stayed in his longer than he said he would. However when he distinctly heard his own name muttered from Casey's distressed form he had to take action.

"Casey?" he called out gently, hoping to wake him just by speaking, "Matt?" He went over to the bed and knelt down so he was level with his friend, "Matt, you're all right, it's just a dream," but it wasn't waking Casey up and he muttered Severides name once more. Severide gently placed a hand on Caseys should, "Matt? Come on Case, wake up," he insisted, he shook Caseys shoulder lightly.

Casey's eyes shot open but didn't seem to see Severides face right in front of him, his eyes were glazed over and unfocused, "Matt?" Severide called his name again to get his friends attention.

"Sev…" Casey was now looking at him groggily, "Sev… are you ok?" he asked with genuine concern, his eyes were wide open and watery.

"I'm fine Matt. It was just a dream. I'm fine. Everyone is fine," Severide reassured him. He assumed Matt must have had a nightmare or flashback of himself and the others at the firehouse in danger. Severide remembered the night after Hallie's funeral when he and Shay had persuaded him to stay at their place; Severide woke him up after he'd been dreaming of his parents, Andy and Hallie. Matt never admitted anything else about the nightmare, although Severide had heard him calling out other names, and he never spoke about it again after that night. "Everyone's fine," Severide reiterated, "Is you head ok?" he asked, he wondered if he had a headache as it had been about four hours since he had some painkillers so he could give him some more if he needed them.

"Hardasever," Matt mumbled sleepily.

"Right, just go back to sleep then. Everyone's ok, I promise," Severide spoke softly and watch as Matt's eyes closed and he drifted back off to sleep. He sat in the room with him for a while to reassure himself that Casey would sleep through the rest of the night before he quietly left and locked up the house.


	6. Worry

**Six Weeks: Worry**

Severide continued to watch the film after he pulled the blanket over Casey when he dozed off to sleep. Casey coughed lightly a couple of times during the duration of the film. When the credits rolled Casey was still fast sleep so Severide got up and clear away the plates and uneaten food before sitting back down at the end of the sofa and putting one of the many sports channels on that Casey had on his TV.

Soon Casey stirred in his sleep and Severide watched as his friend slowly woke up. He opened his eyes and gazed unseeing, he uncovered a hand from the blanket and rubbed his eyes of sleep before slowly sitting up, "Hey," he said tiredly to Severide, his throat was croaky, Severide was positive he'd have a full blown cold soon, "Missed my film didn't I?" his words were slightly slurred, but this didn't worry Severide as it did take him awhile to fully wake up at the moment, but what did concern Severide was the lack of eye contact and unseeing glaze that seemed to have taken over them.

"Yeah but I'm pretty sure you know off by heart," he smirked and Casey grinned at him, looking at him directly now. Severide assumed it had just taken a moment for his friend to wake up, he didn't know that Casey's vision was blurry until he adjusted to the surroundings.

The front door opened and Dawson entered. "Hope you two aren't up to any trouble!" she announced jovially.

"Us? I don't know what you're talking about... Besides Casey's the sensible one out all of us... in the whole world," he laughed. But Casey didn't reply, "Case?"

He looked lost and confused, "What?" he asked sleepily

"Gabby's back…" Severide stated with concern eminent in his voice. He glanced worryingly at Dawson who was no stood by Casey's side. He looked exhausted despite having dozed off during the film.

"Matt, baby... are you ok?" Dawson knelt down so she was at eye level with him, when he didn't reply she continued soothingly, "You look exhausted still, want to get into bed?" she didn't think the sofa was the best place for him to be sleeping, she knew his neck was stiff and his body was sore.

"Sure," Casey mumbled in response and Severide helped in stand up carefully and led him to his bedroom. Casey didn't utter a word of protest as he was helped into bed.

"Just rest, Matt," Dawson said gently as she pulled the covers over his tired frame, she was careful not to let slip 'baby' in front of Severide as she had done a few moments ago, although Shay had told him about the two of them. She wanted to kiss him on the forehead but just took his hand and squeezed it reassuringly before she closed the curtains and both her and Severide left the room, leaving the door ajar.

Severide and Dawson sat down on the sofa, "I hate this," Severide admitted, Dawson frowned and he continued, "He's not himself and there's nothing I can do about it," he said with frustration, he just wanted to help Casey get back to normal and he didn't know what to do, he felt useless and worried at his friends behaviour one moment he would be angry, protesting against any help and the next he would willingly let someone take over without so much as a look of objection. It was going to be a long few days until his check-up. He partially wished Casey was still in the hospital being monitored to prove to him that his friend was ok but he knew it wasn't an environment to fully recover in. He knew how quickly cabin fever sets in when the haze of drugs wears off and of course he knew how his friend hated staying in hospitals, how it reminded him of the accident he had when he was a child. He knew it was in Casey's best interest to be at home, but that didn't stop him worrying about him, tomorrow was going to hard, they were on shift and would have to leave Casey on his own for much longer than he'd like.

"Did something happen earlier?" Dawson asked, breaking Severides thoughts.

"Oh no, he was fine… I mean it's just hard, it's like nothing ever happened for a moment and then he's suddenly tired or just loses track of what he's saying…" Severide said with concern.

"The doctor said that's going to be normal for a bit, it'll get better, he wasn't concerned about it," Dawson recalled one of the many conversations she'd had with Doctor Carter whilst Casey was in hospital, "He'll be fine," she reiterated, though she was sure it was her own benefit as well as Severides.

"Tomorrow's going to be…" Severide began.

"… Long," Dawson sighed, "Yeah… I wanted to take the shift off but I don't want Matt to think I'm worried, we'll just pop by in between calls if we get chance I guess."

"He'll probably sleep most the day anyway right?" Severide wondered out loud.

"Yeah," Dawson replied.

"That's ok isn't it?" Severide asked and clarified himself, "All the sleeping I mean. It helps doesn't it?"

"Yeah, he got his head pretty scrambled, it needs rest to heal," she explained. They sat in silence for a few moments before Dawson spoke, "I'm going to stay the night I think, if he doesn't mind anyway, he'll need to get up and have something to eat soon," she thought out loud.

"Cindy's made him a meals, think Herrmann put some of them in the freezer as well as the fridge," Severide stated, he wasn't sure if Dawson knew but it was about the most useful thing he could say in a situation he felt uncomfortable in, he knew how to help Casey when he was in the hospital so had sorted him out an iPod and brought him lots of things from home to make his room seem less clinical-like but now he didn't know how to help without appearing to be checking up on his friend, which admittedly he was doing but he didn't want anger Matt with almost constant supervision. But Severide couldn't help being worried about his friend.

After sitting together and watching some TV it was soon nearly dinner time and Severide bid his farewell leaving Dawson to wake Casey for some food and his meds.


	7. 911, What's Your Emergency?

**Six Weeks: 911, what's your emergency?**

It was just after 8am and Severides shift had ended. He considered calling Casey to let him know he was going to drop by on his way home but didn't want to wake him if he was still asleep. On his way over he decided to pick up some breakfast for them both. When he pulled up outside his friend's house he saw that the curtains were still drawn so he presumed Casey was still in bed. There was no answer when he knocked on the door so he let himself in; he put their breakfast and his coffee down on the dining room table before he opened the curtains.

"Matt?" he called quietly as he tapped gently on Casey bedroom door. He glanced at his watch; it was nearly 9am but he wasn't sure if he should wake his friend up or not. As he walked away from the door he could have sworn he heard something, he stopped still to listen but there was nothing but his gut was telling him something wasn't right. He went back to the bedroom door and knocked again, this time he was louder, when there was no response he opened the door and the light from behind him cascaded onto an empty bed. The covers were strewn half on and half off the end of the bed; Casey was nowhere to be seen. Severide spotted a glass tipped on its side on top of the bedside table. Quickly Severide moved into the bedroom to discover Casey lying on his left hand side in front of his side of the bed, withering in pain. There was a small puddle of water underneath him following the trail down from the tipped glass at the top of the bedside table. Severide put two and two together as he moved closer to Casey, "Shit," he muttered before he knelt down in front of his friend. Now he was closer he could see his friend had his eyes clamped shut and he was breathing heavily. He couldn't see any blood. "Matt?" he placed a hand on his friends shoulder trying to rouse him, "Casey? Come on, bud, open your eyes…"

Severide felt helpless, his friend was lying on the floor in pain; it was looking likely that he'd knocked the bedside table, had he hit his head? That would certainly explain his friends pain. He pulled out his phone and dialled 911. It rang briefly before it was picked up, "911, what's your emergency?"

"I need an ambulance at 2304…" he rushed out the address and explained there was a possible serious head injury. He put down the phone and waited on the floor with Casey. Casey's eyes opened so briefly that Severide thought he may have imagined it, "Matt?" he called to his friend, trying to get his attention.

There was a knock at the door, "Paramedics!"

"In here," he shouted from his position on the floor and he heard the paramedics make there wat through the house to him and his friend.

"Lieutenant Severide," one of the paramedics announced when they saw him kneeling on the floor.

"It's Casey," Severide said simply. Casey's heroics at the Quincy fire had spread like wild fire, the chief had even mentioned the possibility of an award being given, and the news of his injury and lucky escape were well known too.

"What happened?" asked one the paramedics, he recognised both of them but at that moment in time couldn't recall either of their names.

"I don't know. I found him like this… I don't think he even knows I'm here…" he trailed off and moved back slightly to allow the paramedics more access to Casey.

A light was shown into his friends eyes, "He's photosensitive but his pupils are equal and reactive; that's good," the paramedic reassured Severide.

His friend was still lying there in pain, "Matt?" he said, still trying to get his friends attention as the paramedics prepared the gurney, "Matt? Talk to me, bud, what hurts?"

The almost silent reply that escaped Casey's lips made Severides insides crumble with worry, "Everything," and his friends trembling form relaxed and his breathing slowed as he slipped into unconsciousness.

They moved him gently onto his back and one of the paramedics began to rub his sternum, "Lieutenant? Matt?" they tried to wake him but he didn't respond.

"Casey? Case?" Severide got closer to his friends prone form and tried to rouse him. It worked. Casey slowly cracked open his eyes, his usually alert eyes were unfocused and glazed, "Casey?" he called to him once more, trying to get his attention, he looked like he would fall back into unconsciousness, "Stay with me," he commanded softly.

Severide watched intently as Casey's cracked lips slowly opened and he announced "Not going anywhere," the words were barely audible as they stuttered out of his friends mouth.

The paramedic who had been rubbing his friend's sternum in order to rouse him asked, "Matt, what do you remember? Did you hit your head?" he wanted to know what had happened to the truck lieutenant to help treat him as swiftly as possible.

"My head?" Casey stammered questioningly. He wasn't focused on the paramedics words or the rest of the world around him. The lost look on his face broke Severides heart. It was so hard to see his usually composed friend in so much pain and confusion, his eyes were running and he didn't know if it was from the pain or if they were tears. He hadn't seen Casey cry on many occasions and each time he had it tore him apart.

"Matt what happened?" the paramedic asked again but Casey seemed far away in a world surrounded by pain.

The next word that left Casey's lips made Severides heart ache, "Hurts," Casey's eyes were now scrunched up as he fought against the waves of agony that assaulted him.

"I know, bud, just hang on, you'll be fine soon, I promise," Severide didn't know what else he could do or say to bring any comfort to his friend as the paramedics moved the flattened gurney next to Casey's pain filled form, Severide had stepped back to let them work

As the paramedics started to move Casey he protested weakly, "No."

"Matt, just relax, they're just helping, we need to get you into the ambo," Severide insisted.

"No," Casey repeated weakly.

Severide knew the prospect of going back to the hospital was not a pleasant one for his friend. "I know you don't want to but we need to get your head checked out, it's important. I'm staying with you," Severide reassured.

Casey's eyes were open but glazed. His breaths continued to come rapidly in and out but he didn't protest as he was moved from the floor to the gurney where they placed a blanket over him before securing the straps so that he was secure for the move. Severide could see his friend losing his battle against unconsciousness as the paramedics adjusted the gurney so it was ready to be wheeled out of the house and into the waiting ambulance.

"Matt, I know you're in pain but I need you to take some long deep breaths for me," the paramedic instructed before checking his pupil reaction, worried about his lack of focus, Casey clamped his eyes shut immediately at the bright light, putting the light away the paramedic continued his examination, "Matt, open your eyes, the light is gone, I need you follow my finger," Casey seemed to focus a little more and did what he was told, "Good, do you know what happened?"

It took a few moments but Casey did reply slowly, "Got up."

"Do you know where you are?" the paramedic asked, trying to gauge his level of awareness.

"Hurts," the word fell out his mouth and tears rolled down his face.

"Take some long deep breaths Matt," the paramedic advised to help Casey focus on something other than the pain. He grabbed the oxygen and placed the mask over Caseys face and his breaths slowed down to a more reasonable pace.

They left the house and Severide walked side by side with the gurney as he asked, "Can't you give him something? He never says he's in pain."

"It's better for him to be assessed without anything when we get there if he's hit his head," the paramedic explained as they loaded him into the back of the ambulance. Severide followed him in as the other paramedic got in the front to drive. He hoped Casey wouldn't remember all of this pain.

Severide watched as Casey's eyes flickered, the paramedic saw it too and placed a hand on his shoulder comfortingly "Lieutenant, can you hear me?" Casey eyes remained closed, seemingly unaware of the question posed to him. After a few moments Casey cracked his eyes open but shut them immediately, "Lieutenant, can you hear me?" the question was repeated, "Matt?" all of a sudden Casey tried to move, the straps on the gurney restrained him but there presence seemed to make the situation worse and struggled even more. Severide realised what a scary place this was to be in especially if he was already disorientated and barely lucid.

"Casey, you're all right, stop moving, you're in the ambo, I'm here and you're ok. Relax," Severide tried to calm him down so he didn't hurt himself and he let go a breath he didn't realised he had been holding when Casey relaxed back on the gurney and looked blearily at home.

Severide could barely here his friend's next words through the oxygen mask "Sev… hurts…please…"

"I know, bud," he said softly, wishing he could do more. He watched Casey clamp his eyes shut again and he squeezed his hand comfortingly. In what felt like hours but was in fact no time at all the ambulance pulled up outside the emergency room and the doors were slammed open, "We're here, they'll get you sorted." Severide followed the gurney out of the ambulance and into the emergency room but was stopped by a nurse who insisted he moved out to the waiting area. He saw Doctor Carter and said, "I don't know what happened…"

"We'll sort it, don't worry," he replied and nodded to the nurse who then escorted Severide away.

Severide sat in the waiting room, panicking internally and imagining the doctor coming to tell him that Casey was going to have emergency surgery again… What were his chances of a full recovery then? When Casey was in the ICU there were others in there that had little chance of waking up… What if Casey wasn't so lucky this time.

All his panicking was for nothing however as Doctor Carter appeared and told him, "He's ok."

Severide sighed and stood up, "He is?" he questioned with a tone of surprise. He wondered how his friend could be ok after being in that much pain.

"He is," the doctor reassured him, "He's about to have a precautionary MRI, you can follow him up and wait up there if you'd like. I want to keep him here for observation for 24 hours. He was dehydrated so we're going to give him fluids. It looks like he did knock his head again, a bruise has started to form, but like I said the MRI is just a precaution, there's nothing to indicate any further damage."

"I've never seen him in so much pain…" Severide stated, still wondering how his friend was ok after seeing him in agony.

"We don't think he took his meds last night and his headache to turned into a migraine," the doctor explained.

"A migraine? That's what it was?" Severide said, surprised, he'd never had a migraine himself and knew they could be incapacitating but didn't know realise they could cause so much pain.

"There's scar tissue around the previous injury and the knock to his head aggravated the migraine, in time he shouldn't experience them again," the doctor said.

"Ok," Severide nodded in understanding, "He's not going to be happy to be stuck here again," he thought out loud.

"No," the doctor agreed, remembering how desperate Casey was to leave last time.

"…I know there's visiting hours but can I stay? I promised him… I know it's silly but I promised him I'd stay with him…" Severide asked hopefully, "I won't disrupt…" he began.

"Ok," the doctor agreed, "Don't let him sign out AMA," he warned with a smile.

"Oh no he is stuck here…I'm not letting what happened last happen ever again," he said, images of Casey in pain swam round his head.

"He's going to be very groggy when he first wakes up but I'll have words with him soon enough," the doctor said before leaving Severide to wonder up a couple of floors to find a different area to wait in whilst his friend was having the MRI scan. As he waited he felt relieved that Casey was ok but at the back of his mind he was worried that it had even happened in the first place.


End file.
